Howard Besser

New York University

Howard Besser is Professor of Cinema Studies and Director of New York University's Moving Image Archiving & Preservation Program (MIAP), as well as Senior Scientist for Digital Library Initiatives for NYU's Library. In addition to teaching MIAP courses, he teaches a regular Cinema Studies course on New Media, Installation Art, and the Future of Cinema. His current research projects involve preserving digital public televsion, preserving and providing digital access to dance performance, preserving difficult electronic works, issues around copyright and fair use, Do-It-Yourself media, and the changing nature of media with the advent of digital delivery systems. Dr Besser has been on the faculty of UC Berkeley's School of Information Management & Systems, had a long-term affiliation with the Berkeley Multimedia Research Center, and is still on the Advisory Board for the UCB Art Technology, & Culture lecture series. From 1994-96 he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan's School of Information where he headed a committee developing a curriculum in multimedia and digital publishing. He has also been an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Howard is also actively involved with museums and the art community. He was one of the founders and served on the Management Committee of the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project, and directed a Mellon-sponsored study of image distribution from museums to universities. For several years he was in charge of long-range information planning for the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, and for many years he headed information technology for Berkeley's University Art Museum. His most recent work in this area involves examinining issues of organization, access, and longevity for new media art in collaboration with the Electronic Cafe International and a group of museums with electronic art collections.